By now you’ve heard about President Obama’s problems scheduling the speech revealing his economic plan. Going up against the NFL season opener’s a tough bid, but not to worry —the president assures us he’ll wrap it up before kickoff:
In one sense, Obama will profit from his positioning just before kickoff. Some percentage of viewers will tune in to the last 15 minutes of a speech they otherwise might have missed. In another sense, however, Obama’s presidency is further diminished by his perceived inability to prevail as the more important event of an evening.
This isn’t just any speech but one we’ve been awaiting for, oh, about three years — through a recession, unemployment that never dipped below the 8 percent level predicted way back when and an earthquake followed by a hurricane that disrupted the Obamas’ summer vacation. This is it. The one. The very speech that finally is going to lay out The Plan to put America back to work and get that old economy breaking a sweat again.
It’s important to the country. It may even be consequential. But the message thus far is that the president can’t command an audience.
The Big One will be all but forgotten once the cameras tune into Lambeau Field. This is getting very painful to watch.
